Emeryville-based Amyris Releases New Sugarcane-Derived Zero-Calorie Sweetener

Emeryville-based Amyris Releases New Sugarcane-Derived Zero-Calorie Sweetener

IMAGE COURTESY OF PURECANE

It’s produced through a unique fermentation process.

Emeryville-based Amyris, Inc. has just released a zero-calorie, zero-glycemic sweetener — especially for baking — that is made from sugarcane.

Purecane Baking Sweetener is a sister product to the original Purecane Sweetener Packets. Both are marketed through the Purecane brand, which is part of Emeryville’s Amyris — a science-and-technology research/development/production outfit with arms in the health-and-wellness, clean beauty, and flavors-and-fragrances industries. Amyris employs machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence along with human effort to make its products.

Amyris was founded sixteen years ago after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched a grant aimed at developing a sustainably sourced, safe malaria treatment. Today, the company focuses on creating various problem-solving consumer products — such as sweeteners that diabetics and others who must avoid sugar can enjoy.

To produce Purecane sweeteners, the company’s food scientists found ways of consolidating sugarcane’s sweetness while shedding its glycemic content through what the company calls “a unique type of fermentation” — entailing the combination of sugarcane syrup with yeast through fermentation to convert into specialized molecules.

“Our team tested thousands of yeast strains to find one that combines with sugarcane to produce a sweet zero-calorie ingredient,” explains the Purecane website.

“In nature, this ingredient is called Reb M. We call it a mind-blowing, mouth-pleasing miracle.”

The company boasts that its sweeteners — made from sugarcane grown sustainably in Brazil — lack the unpleasant aftertastes often associated with stevia and other sugar substitutes.

Selling strongly right from the start, Purecane Baking Sweetener rapidly entered Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” category, according to a press release.

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